You have to send the sample to the US via Aust Post express service.There is no where that i know of in Australia to get secretor or lewis testing done

Of course you can have the Lewis test done in Australia ... any Australian's blood lab will do it provided they get a request from your GP to do it ... Get your annual blood work done and ask your GP to include all the tests that you need: Lewis antigen will give you the secretor status. If you are blood type A you can also ask him to include the A1A2 subtypes and of course while at it, include the MN test (serotypes?_) ... You can get all this done without paying any extra ... or so we did anyway ...

The saliva test will only give you the secretor status and yes, as far as I know nobody does it in Australia. The nearest place is NZ via the link you have already been provided in this thread ... but if you do the blood Lewis test you do not really need the saliva test, unless for confirmation ...

We had our done through our family Dr ... actually two different ones ... from a 7 day clinic, ... The Doctor fills in a form from the particular lab they use, here in Qld is QML labs ... This form has all the code for all the possible blood tests available ... but I remember some of the tests (a1a2 and MN serotype were not on the form and the Doc wrote it down himself). The lab comply with whatever the doc requested on the form, although the ladies at the lab needed clarification because they have never heard of the tests and were not sure how much blood to take ... In the coming weeks they got seasoned since a few more of us had the test done and they knew then what to do straight away.

I hope this answer your question ... all this was previously discussed and it is buried somewhere in a thread ... but I do not mind repeating here ... I know what it is searching in this pandora box of knowledge here ... can get a bit chaotic and time consuming ... all worth it though ...

regarding the saliva test, yes originally I tried to have it done with PathLab in Melbourne, but they did the wrong test and by the time I tried to do the proper secretor saliva test they had closed down (or at least did not have the test available anymore), that is the reason why I pursued the blood test option instead.

I think Gina in Nz (blood type products supplier for Oz and NZ), sells the test kit, though I do not know if it is sent to US or processed in NZ. I just find that doing the blood test is more complete, because it gives you all the other tests (if you need them) in one go and it costs nothing extra ...

.. and sorry that I am not as busy posting here, but life in the farm is keeping me too busy ... never a dull moment, particularly when you are trying to live sustainable ... growing and cooking your food from scratch ... I do lurk around here a lot and if I feel I can add to whatever else is posted I do. We have such a bounty of knowledgeable, experienced and always willing to help people in this forum that I find lurking is enough most time for me ...

I requested the Lewis test from my GP. He is very accommodating of my requests, but he had never heard of the test. When he searched his pathology test book, he came across it - it is called the Lewis Phenotype test. He was happy to order it for me and my husband, along with our other annual bloodwork. No hassle, no cost.

My results were Lewis double negative, so technically I still do not know for absolute sure whether I am a secretor or not. However, Swami allows for knowing one result and not the other, and as Dr D says, LDNs are very non-secretor like. So, ostensibly, I am a non-secretor.

FIfHI

"The mind is nourished by what it receives; the heart by what it gives."

I have not contacted the labs, but page was updated Oct 16, 2013 -so presumably content is current

Melbourne Pathology

Melbourne Pathology need a referral from your doctor. The test is called "IGA Salivary". No food or water 2 hrs before test. You simply spit 1/2 mm of salivar into a container. This is packed in ice and sent to Sydney. Results in 2-3 weeks. You pay a doctors fee + pathology lab fee.

General Diagnostic Laboratories

General Diagnostic Laboratories doesn't need a referral from your doctor. The ''Saliva Secretor Status' test costs $30 for the test, and $12.35 processing fee. So about $42.35. Sorry no medicare rebate is available on this type of test. They mail you the test kit; you spit in the bottle and send it back to them. Results in 1-2 weeks. They also do blood tests (secretor status is useless without knowing your blood type).

I have not contacted the labs, but page was updated Oct 16, 2013 -so presumably content is current

Melbourne Pathology

Melbourne Pathology need a referral from your doctor. The test is called "IGA Salivary". No food or water 2 hrs before test. You simply spit 1/2 mm of salivar into a container. This is packed in ice and sent to Sydney. Results in 2-3 weeks. You pay a doctors fee + pathology lab fee.

That secretory IGA test that Path Labs do in Melbourne is not the same as the secretor salivary test we want. I ordered it in the past in turned out to be not what we look for. Quote from discussion on one of my threads in this forum regarding these tests back in 2009:

The IgA/SIgA is shorthand for immunoglobulin A. One of the many antibodies found in the blood and body fluids. The level of SIgA alone is not enough to tell you your secretor status.

Unquote

It was confirmed then that Path Lab did not do the proper secretor saliva test we want.

I really want to find out if I my secretor status, in Australia what is the best way to get this done ? Do I order the kit from the site or is there somewhere in Australia / NZ ?

Is it easy to do the test yourself ?

Hi Aussie+A, It's a simple test to do and you can order a kit from our site http://www.right4yourtypeau.com. What part of Australia do you live in as we will be in Sydney next week at the Mind Body Spirit Festival and will have the testing kits available on our stall as well as all of Dr D'Adamo's product range? All the show details are on our site.

Since FUT1 provides the glycans necessary for glycosyltransferases conversion into the Lewis antigen in addition to ABH, the Lewis blood group determinants are structurally related to determinants of the ABO and the H/h blood group systems and the outcome of Lewis typing can also often be used for the de facto determination of ABH secretor status. In the presence of FUT2 alleles that express type 1 H determinants, the phenotype will be Le (a-b+) but individuals in whom the FUT2 gene is not expressed will be (Le a+b-).

ABH secretors are almost always Lewis (a-b+) since they convert all their Lewis (a) antigen into Lewis (b). ABH non-secretors are always (Lewis a+b-) since they lack the FUT2 dependent glycosyltransferase to accomplish this. A small section (1-4% of the population dependent on race) will be Lewis Double Negative (LDN; Lewis (a-b-)) and for which Lewis typing cannot be used to determine ABH secretor status. In these individuals determination via saliva is necessary. However, it may be helpful to think of LDN individuals as a special category of non-secretor, since they do lack the Lewis b antigen (like the traditional ABH non-secretors). In most instances LDNs share the same metabolic consequences as ABH non-secretors, and in a few, such as cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance, actually have the most severe variations.

Lewis Phenotype ABH Secretor Status

Le (a+b-) which has Lewis a antigen but not Lewis b

Always ABH non-secretor

Le (a-b+) which has Lewis b antigen but not Lewis a

Always ABH secretor

Le (a-b-) having neither Lewis a nor Lewis b

Lewis outcome not a determinant of ABH secretor status. However, this variant is associated with its own unique metabolic consequences.